Hess (NYSE:HES) Trading Down 4.3% – Should You Sell?

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)’s stock price was down 4.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $138.82 and last traded at $139.59. Approximately 567,234 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 1,953,118 shares. The stock had previously closed at $145.85.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.50.

Hess Trading Down 4.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $140.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.47.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 21.27%. On average, analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total transaction of $12,890,115.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,791,753.09. This represents a 28.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at $3,914,019.71. The trade was a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309. 9.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HES. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 53.0% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 2,920 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its position in Hess by 3.4% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,128 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,822,000 after buying an additional 633 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in Hess by 47.1% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 20,333 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,999,000 after acquiring an additional 6,508 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Hess by 1.5% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 19,751 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,914,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Hess during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,054,000. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Hess

Hess Corporation, an exploration and production company, explores, develops, produces, purchases, transports, and sells crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas. The company operates in two segments, Exploration and Production, and Midstream. It conducts production operations primarily in the United States, Guyana, the Malaysia/Thailand Joint Development Area, and Malaysia; and exploration activities principally offshore Guyana, the U.S.